It is assumed that a cap of cans and jaws of screw lid methods with the cap matched in a screw ditch to be opened or closed, which are often used as containers of various goods such as food, drinks, cosmetics, or the like, is opened by human power. Accordingly, it is common that the cap is opened in the manner that a container portion held by one hand and a cap portion squeezed by the other hand are twisted in the direction opposite to each other. Those most parts of goods are manufactured in factory while caps of the cans and jaws are closed by machine. It is therefore common that the cap is opened with a seal being simultaneously broken at the time of starting of use of the can or jaw. Otherwise, assuming that the cap is closed with no seal, it is commonly difficult that the cap is opened, on the ground that the cap has been tightly closed at the beginning. Further, the cap portion is relatively thin and made small, compared with the container portion, so that the cap portion has a narrow area to be held by human hand. Therefore, everyone cannot utilize his weak grasping power sufficiently. As a result, it still more becomes difficult that the cap is opened by human hand. Under these circumstances, as shown in, for example, the patent reference 1, many proposals have been made about assisting tools at the time of handling operation of opening the cap. However, in a particular case that the cap has been tightly closed, from human engineering point of view, the can or the jaw is apt to be held and twisted in its inclined condition, when further power is to be applied. It therefore becomes difficult that the container portion is held in the vertical direction. Consequently, particularly in a case that contents of the can or the jaw are goods of liquid or powder, there is a problem that the contents are spilt due to vigor at the time of opening the cap thereof.
Patent reference 1: U.S. Pat. No. 1,894,556
On the other hand, apart from a case that the contents of the can or the jaw are completely consumed at once, it is common that remaining contents are saved with the cap thereof is closed. The cap has sometimes been closed with a little too tight. The contents of the can or the jaw are sometimes adhered to the cap, because the cap has been closed in a condition that the contents were added to the cap. In these cases, there is a problem that the cap was hardly opened.
Further, even if the cap has not been closed so tightly, a similar problem is caused to occur. Namely, it is difficult for a person of weakness having a comparatively weak grasping power such as a housewife, an infant, an old man to open the cap.
In order to solve such a problem, there are proposed many ideas that even a person of weak power can open the cap of a can or a jaw even by his one hand by mechanically opening the cap with a use of motive power of a motor, and the like in a condition that the container thereof is maintained in the vertical direction. Under these circumstances, the inventors of the present application have made, in the patent reference 2, an invention of an automatic cap opening apparatus suitable for opening caps of cans or jaws of screw lid methods with the caps matched in a screw ditch and closed.
Patent reference 2: Japanese Utility Model No. 3103926
In addition, there are some containers incapable of being opened only by hands and fingers, like canned foods wound up and closed, bottle beers closed by a capsule (crown cap), and the like. In cases of these containers, contained are goods of which caps are to be opened by the use of instruments for exclusive use, such as a can opener, a corkscrew, and so on. On the other hand, it has recently been generalized that a can of pull-top method capable of being opened by hands without a can opener is used in canned foods for articles of foods and drinks. However, there are still many canned foods of the type in which caps of the canned foods are cut off and thereby opened. If this type of the can is opened, it becomes necessary to use the instruments for exclusive use in the operation. Accordingly, a person having a weak power cannot sometimes open the cap of the type of the can. There is also a problem that a person opening the can is sometimes injured by slip of the instrument. Under such circumstances, products such as an electric-motive can opener, or the like have been supplied in the market from the considerable past. For example, as an invention filed in the United States on Nov. 27, 1959 and thereafter filed in Japan next year claiming Priority, a proposal is made about an improved can opener with an attached motor that is disclosed in the patent reference 3. In the improved can opener, driving gear revolving by motor is pushed and touched to a circumference of turning edge of a cap of the can from the inner side thereof while round cutting wheel is pushed and touched to the circumference of turning edge from the outer side thereof. The circumference of turning edge of the cap of the can is being thereby snipped strongly, and under such a condition, the outer side of the cap of the can has been cut completely. Consequently, the cap of the can is opened by the improved can opener.
Patent reference 3: Japanese Laid-open Official Gazette Sho37-15683
The Patent references 2 and 3 disclose apparatus each aiming at opening a cap of a can similarly to each other, however, one opens the cap of the can by revolving along a screw ditch while the other opens the cap by cutting the cap of the can. Thus, these apparatus are cap openers of methods completely different from each other. It is therefore necessary to prepare both the apparatus in order to meet with all jaws and cans. This causes troublesome to change the apparatus responsive to the object of cans or jaws. In addition, it also becomes necessary to prepare more space for containing the both apparatus. That also causes problems of many vain, such as much cost, or the like. In order to solve those problems, for example, in an invention disclosed in the patent reference 4, a proposal is made about an apparatus having both functions with a revolving stage and a can sending gear driven by one motor being provided.
Patent reference 4: Japanese Laid-open Official Gazette Sho52-103281
Namely, according to Patent reference 4, a housing, that is a main housing, is configured by, what we call, sleeping “L” character which is elongated in a horizontal direction rather than in a vertical direction. A flat and box-shaped flame is provided in the inner side of a long and horizontal basic portion of the housing with a driving motor being fixed on upper surface of the end of the flame and a shaft of the driving motor being inserted through the inside of the flame. A pinion gear is provided in a head of the shaft of the driving motor. By reducing rotation speed of the driving motor in line with gear series consisting of a plurality of stages constituted within the box-shaped flame, a rotation torque of the driving motor is increased. Thereby, motive power transferring means are constituted in order to transfer the motive power to the output power shaft of the last stage. A rotation stand (rotational table) for rotating can or jaw mounted thereon consisting of circular plate with friction pad of circular rib being attached to surface thereof is fixed to an upper end portion of the output power shaft of the last stage penetrating through the box-shaped flame and the housing. On the other hand, a can sending gear of a can opener is provided to a lower end portion of the output power shaft of the last stage penetrating through the box-shaped flame down to the reverse side of the box-shaped flame.
An upper portion of the driving motor is contained in an inner side of a vertical portion consisting of the vertical section of the housing. Further, in an upper end of the vertical portion, a chock supporting pole, which is supported rotationally over 90 angles by pushing a plunger of coil loaded type and releasing stick thereof, is vertically provided around a pin for a pivot supporting body. In the chock supporting pole, a chock having clamping means that is capable of slid moving and is for fixing at an optional position is projection-provided in line with a gear rack provided in a longitudinal direction. Under this condition, let a can or a jaw be sandwiched between a lower surface of the chock and the rotation stand facing in parallel to the lower surface of the chock, so that the chock and the rotation stand are friction fitted. Let the rotation stand be driven by a motor, so that a cap of the can or the jaw is opened by being rotated. A function disclosed in the Patent reference 4 is thus operable.
On the other hand, another function disclosed in the Patent reference 4 is a can opener function. This is such a function operable as follows. Namely, let the housing rotate over 90 angles around the pin for the pivot supporting body by pushing the plunger of coil loaded type and let the long and horizontal base portion be vertical. Thereby, a portion which has ever been a bottom surface appears as a vertical surface. At the same time, the output power shaft which has ever been a vertical position is rendered to be a horizontal condition. Similarly, the rotation stand which has ever been facing in parallel to the lower surface of the chock is rendered to stand up vertically so that the rotation stand may be in parallel to the chock supporting pole. Further, the can sending gear which has ever been facing a floor surface appears as a vertical surface. While the can sending gear strongly sandwiches the screwing and enclosing end of a can between a rotation cutting blade and the can sending gear and rotate the screwing and enclosing end, the can sending gear cut and open an inner side of the screwing and enclosing end so as to open the cap.